Primal
by Jaydomination
Summary: There is plenty of evidence showing the ancient clashes between primal Groudon and primal Kyogre. It's all over Hoenn. But legends are formed long after the actual events, and the first of these clashes was much more complicated than it seems...
1. Chapter 1

_There was a time when Pokemon of legends still walked the land freely. There was a time, where all humans knew a Pokemon. They didn't own them, but it wasn't the other way around either. A time when Groudon and Kyogre still fought, Giratina still lived in the light, Uxie's eyes were open and Azelf didn't have to stay in a lake to stop the world ending.  
Arceus still walked the highest mountains, king and yet subject-less. There were no pokeballs, no potions and no Pokemon gyms. It was a natural time. A primal time.  
_

* * *

The last thing I can remember are those eyes. Uxie's eyes. I vaguely remember that you weren't supposed to look at them, but not why. They were amazing. Deepest blue with flecks of gold and black. Amazing. Had I said that already? I can't remember. Just as I reach out for the-

 _"Rrrraaaf! Rrrraaaf!"_

I sat up to find myself staring into the face of a poochyena that was sitting on my lap. It barked at me again, then ran a few paces away and sat down. Staring around, I saw I was in a small clearing in an open forest. Sticks had been piled up in the gaps between almost all the trees, letting only some of the dusk light in, leaving me with a hollow about the size of two big logs each side.

 _Strange. Did the Poochyena do that? Where am I? Who am I? ...Um...Ethan. Pretty sure I remember being called Ethan. Well, there's one problem solved. Not a helpful one, but who cares._

Looking around, I guessed the hollow was the Poochyena's nest. Considering there was a small Oran berry bush, and a little pile of leaves in one corner, I was probably right. It ran up to me and nipped my ankle. It really hurt! "Rrrraaaf!" It barked. I laughed. "Like me, huh? Want a name?" It nodded. It always amazed me how smart Pokemon are.

 _Why can I remember that, but not anything helpful? Like, where the heck am I? Oh, Arceus above, this is frustrating!  
_  
I looked at the little poochyena for a second. "Hmm.. How about Kade?" It growled. "Darius?" That seemed to go down better. Even though it still had the normal red eyes and perpetual frown, I could tell it was happy with that. "Okay, Darius. Is this your.. whatever you call where you live?" He nodded. "Rrrraaaf!"

Just then, Darius' tail fluffed up. He turned and dove into the pile of leaves. I was confused. _Did I do something?_ It turned out I hadn't.  
A large explosion echoed through the air, followed by a blood-chilling roar. A loud screech echoed from far away, almost in answer.  
I shuddered. That noise could only have been made by a really big Pokemon. No wonder Darius was freaking out.

After a few minutes, I finally coaxed Darius out of the leaves. He takes stubborn to a whole new level. I settled him down on top of the leaves, then turned my attention to food. The small Oran berry bush worked fine for that. Oran berries are pretty filling. I managed to uproot some of the tall grass and make it into a bed for me. As I slowly drifted off to sleep, I faintly noticed a smell of burning...


	2. Chapter 2

_I was expecting to see Uxie again, but I didn't. Instead, I found myself looking at Uxie's sibling, Azelf._

 _It stared at me for a second, then turned and pointed up at a tall mountain. No, not mountain, volcano.  
I could see a figure prancing around the top in the way only Arceus did. As I watched, the image was consumed in smoke from the volcano..._

* * *

I woke to a full forest fire. It could have only been... maybe an hour or two? Don't know. Looking around me, I spotted Darius cowering in his pile of leaves, howling his head off. He was terrified! I picked him up and ran, stepping around patches of flaming grass as I went. Once I even had to find another way around a small ledge, about my height. I could climb it, but Darius couldn't. _There's got to be a better way to carry him. Cage, perhaps? Or... a really... big... sack? Never mind._

Sprinting through another small clearing, I noted that the fire was worse here. Navigating another ledge, I found a small bay. Diving in with Darius, It occurred to me that I hadn't checked if I could swim first. Thankfully I could.  
Waiting in the shallows, the fire got worse before it got better. As the inferno began to creep closer to the water's edge, I began to hear a small wailing sound. Looking around to see what was making the sound, Darius yipped and ran around a patch of grass.  
Panting with the heat, he nudged out a small Torchick. It was crying. I didn't even know they could do that. Pushing it away from the fire, which was dangerous even for a fire type, Darius whined and recoiled back away from it. The Torchick coughed a little fireball and started crying harder.  
 _Oh, no. It's scared of the fire, but it's even more scared of the water..._ Picking it up, I said something I probably shouldn't have and dropped it.  
It's tears were boiling hot! No wonder Darius didn't like it. Looking around for a safe but dry place, I ended up putting it on a rock that stuck out of the water, just out of arm's reach. Coaxing Darius back into the water, I lay down to wait.

* * *

I don't even know how long we were waiting until it started raining, worse than a monsoon. As the fire died down to embers, the Torchick made a displeased little squeak. At least it wasn't crying, although it did have a cough. Having a pokemon only the size of your head, that keeps coughing up fireballs, is really annoying. With a sigh, I picked it up and put it back on to the shore.

Looking down into the water, I finally got to see myself properly. I was tall, with blue eyes, olive skin and loose, mid-length hair, so dirty blonde it was almost brown. Not exactly standout. I could probably hide in plain sight. I guess I would have to ask, next time I actually got to see another human. I was wearing loose silk-and-cotton shorts, a cotton shirt and a leather belt, sandals and satchel.  
Looking inside, I found a notebook labeled "Field Journal", quill, ink and very pleased Castform, stuffing it's face with berries. I quickly closed the satchel. Castform can predict the weather, which is kinda helpful. If you hate getting wet as much as that Torchick. Or if there's a freak hailstorm coming, or something. _  
__Judging by all the pokemon I've found... this is probably Hoenn. Or Alola. Or one of the island groups. Castform doesn't live on mainland countries. I think, at least._  
Turning to Darius, I shooed him out of the water. "Look, Darius. We've got to go see what happened to your place. Come on."

* * *

Walking through the burnt forest was creepy. _I mean, I don't mind fire, but this? Disturbing. Hope I don't start finding ghost types..._ Not all of the forest was blackened. Here and there, a patch of grass, a flower, a tree branch that still had leaves, that sort of thing. Stepping carefully on a path down a cliff face, I noticed Darius' ears perk up. I froze. Very quietly, just loud enough to be noticeable, was a tiny cough. And the sound of a fire burning out.

Turning behind me, I sighed. _Yup. That's the same Torchick._ On a hunch, I flicked through the little notebook I had discovered earlier. Sure enough, there was an entry that explained things. reading it out loud, carefully, I chuckled to myself.

"Today I saw a Torchick following it's older sibling. It seemed to be doing it without really thinking,  
tottering along, hiccuping out little flames. It looked like it was about to fall over!"

"Weird, huh, Darius? That sounds just like what this guy's doing." Turning to the little Torchick, I frowned. "Look little guy. I'll give you a name, but that's just because I'm sick of calling you Torchick. You're not staying. Understand? You can be called Blaze. After the whole fire thing, which I'm starting to think you caused with your coughing."

I turned back to the path. Picking my way down slowly, I was too focused to notice the Wurmple that Darius was intent on making his lunch. "Rrrraaaf!"  
I flicked my attention back to him. "What? Aw, Darius... no, that's disgusting..." He grinned his little doggy grin at me (now ornamented with various remains of his snack) and yapped. I shuddered.  
Moving on at a much better pace now, I hiked my way into the other clearing I had noticed on my terrified rush to the water. It was larger than Darius' little den, that's for sure. I looked up a the sun, now at it's peak in the sky, and couldn't help but make a comment. "Hey Darius, is it just me or is the sun a bit stronger than it should be?"

A voice snarled out from behind me. "Oh, you just noticed that now, genius? My Deino can tell, and he's BLIND. In fact, My Deino could beat you any day."  
I turned to find a girl in leather shorts and shirt, holding back a snapping, angry Deino on a rope. Grinning with nasty intent, he let go.

* * *

 **Don't ask me about the Wurmple. Just face it, Poochyena are omnivores. By the way, the girl is COMPLETELY related to Zinnia. Like, actually related.**


End file.
